Need Connect
Need Connect can help enable greater reach and connection among your congregation and community.
Need Connect is a separate application that is fully integrated with MinistryPlatform. Like other MinistryPlatform applications, you can access it everywhere! We designed Need Connect to add valuable features to your church ministry so users interact with your church easily and safely, while your MinistryPlatform database instantly collects their information.
- Users can request assistance with needs, from prefilled options or text write-in, such as groceries or errands.
- Users can offer to provide for other people's needs.
- Approved providers can access the Connect Board to view, claim, and complete needs.
- You can send automated emails for confirmations and reminders that can include actionable links.
And, from the Platform, staff can manage and assign needs to approved providers.
Authentication
Any visitor to Need Connect may create a User Account. For the Connect Form, a User Account is optional (but helps to complete forms more quickly). You are required to have a User Account for the Connect Board and My Assignments. The login, create account, and password reset features in Need Connect are the same as the Platform, Widgets, and the Batch Manager Tool, and they create User records. These Users don't count towards your monthly number of supported Users unless you assign specific Security Roles to these users. This is not required to use all the available features in Need Connect.
Accessing Need Connect
The Need Connect application is hosted on our shared server, but is directly connected to your MinistryPlatform system no matter what server on which it lives. The three sections of Need Connect include:
- Connect Form (/needconnect)
- Connect Board (/needconnect/board)
- My Assignments (/needconnect/assignments)
Configure the URL to Need Connect as follows: https://{your church name}.ministryplatform.cloud/needconnect.
For self-hosted churches, let's say your Platform URL is https://name.org/ministryplatform. Your Need Connect URL would be https://name.ministryplatform.cloud/needconnect.
For cloud-hosted (for example, Higher Ground) churches, let's say your Platform URL is https://name.ministryplatform.com/ministryplatform. Your Need Connect URL would be https://name.ministryplatform.cloud/needconnect.